Saturday, March 31, 2012

Tis the season.Saturday afternoons are now reserved for rugby.I only follow one team because my cousin plays in the team, my uncles played in the team and my grandfather played in the team.It's a loyalty thing.First game of the season for the Nash cup they played Taradale and lost. It's ok ... we've got spirit. Yes. We. Have.We just need to remember that for next Saturday.

Friday, March 30, 2012

What a week.
Larry's eye bled enough to make an appointment with the Opthamologist. In public health that means we'll be waiting 2 weeks before we see someone. In the meantime, his eye slowly continues to bleed. I don't know what it is, but it causes him some distress not being able to see anything.

Then his computer blew up. The fan in the power thingy isn't spinning anymore and the dust build up on the CPU tells a story of neglect. Not that important ...

I did a shoot yesterday with the most perfect kids I have ever met. They very well may have got death threats from their parents before arriving to the
shoot, but they were angelic and everything nice about children. I need more clients like them.
Decided to give maternity shoots a miss. It's just not my niche and you really do need to be interested somewhat in what you shoot. What more can you do with a pregnant belly that someone else hasn't already done? That's how I felt. Creative skips me when it comes to belly & newborn shots. Anne Geddes already did everything. I'll leave it for every other photographer here.

I have a photography project up my sleeve. It's big, it's senstive and it's ten shades of fantastic. More on that later, but I have to personally thank two Midwives-in-the-making Jessie, Sonia and Facebook for helping me with the name.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

We decided the photography route is the way to go. I've said it before that there are a few photographers in town and it was time to step it up.

My website, that has laid dormant for about a year, is finally up and running. On top of that, I took a leaf from other photographers book and launched a Facebook page. Facebook is good for hosting images.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Let me tell you the story about our trip up north back in 2008.We came home to NZ for christmas that year and had pre-planned a trip to Whangarei with my sister, her husband and Larrel. She had work benefits that included some accomodation hook ups. So off we went.Somehow, our three day visit to Whangarei turned into a trip to "the bach", my bro-in-laws family beach bach.I was outvoted and off we went for a day trip up and back again.

My sis and her side kick kept it hush hush for a reason. It was maybe 2 hours away from civilization. I had to park 10 minutes away from the actual bach and walk around 3 bays to get there. When we got there it was decided by everyone else that we were going to spend a few days.No power.No flushing toilet.No shower.On top of that, by the time I decided I was not staying there, it was high tide and the walk back to the car would have been a swim back to the car. Cherry on the top, the road we came in on was under water. I had to wait till low tide to go anywhere.Punked.

So I endured the two days and looking back on it now, nearly 4 years later, I liked it.Bay of Islands area.The bach. Our sea view room.Dinner.The bach. Alot has changed since we were last there.At high tide, the water was maybe 10 feet away from the deck.High Tide.At night.Fresh snapper for breakfast.So .. I'll be ready to go back again this year.Preferably without the busy bee crew alarm clock.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

One week away from rugby season. The local team I follow, MAC, had a pre-season match today against NOBs Marist. I've been educating myself more on my camera and the equipment I have, because that's what you do when you have too much competition in town, and took to the field with my 500mm and the perfect camera settings for outdoor shots.I personally love shooting in RAW. This isn't particularly beneficial for sports/action shots because of burst mode, but I tried it today and LOVED the high dynamic range. RAW is not as sharp as JPEG, so I shot in both.

Friday, March 23, 2012

MIL's Calabacitas recipe.We could not find summer squash so used mushrooms.Larry loved it.My mum loved it.I've been sick all week so only apples appease, but I do wish you all could smell the aroma in my kitchen tonight.

Re: LarryEye bled yesterday. He spent alot of time at his computer researching something. This could be why it bled. When it happens it gets him pretty distressed. His vision pretty much goes each time it happens and clouds his vision enough where he needs assistance moving around the place.

Dialysis is taking it's toll on him, but it's also keeping him alive.No word back on a surgery date yet, but a dialysis friend he hadn't seen in a while just had his fistula installed so he's on haemo for the long run.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

I don't usually watch Rachael Ray. I'm not a fan. She's like Oprah and Emeril Lagasse in one show. It doesn't work. The one day I did watch her show she made Sausage & Rigatoni with Caramelized Onion Sauce. It sounded great!Start with the onions.Slice.Fry in butter for 30 minutes on low.I made the sausage the night before. It has paprika, fennel, rosemary and a few other stuff I can't remember.Cook.Deglaze the pan.It should look brown and transparent and the onions will be soft.Puree the onions with garlic.Add cream to the puree (put it back in the pot) and reduce it - 10 minutes.Al Dente the rigatoni. 9 minutes then shock it with cold water to stop the cooking.Add Parmesano Reggiano and voila ......except ... it was gross and I followed the recipe exactly.She sold it pretty well on TV using words like .. fantastic, best sauce ever and to die for.Rachael Ray lies.It tasted like goulash with a hint of flavour.

My kitchenaid mixer blew up because of Rachel Ray and her rigatoni recipe (it has a blender attachment at the top). She owes me $600.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

7-week old Whitiora's shoot.Turns out being a Photographer in Hastings is a fashion this year. Everyone is doing it and if they're not being a photogrpaher, they're being a mid-wife.

My competition grew in number this week and it discouraged me to a point where I wanted to sell my studio and go the cooking route. Larry so kindly reminded me of a few advantages I have over the other 5 -6 photographers in the area .. one being, knowing the difference between entry level cameras and professional cameras. I upgraded for my birthday, but am not yet at a full frame camera. I'll need to sell an ovary for that.

I could always learn LightWave.Anyone know of any good LW Training courses out there?;)

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

March 1st was the first day of Autumn here in New Zealand. I transplanted my chile plants late, but they're still growing despite my neglect.Poblano.Good for Chile Rellenos.I'm not sure if these are serrano, ancho or green chilis. They could be jalapeno's too ..Tomatillos.3 plants will get about 100 tomatillos from them.That's enough for a pot of salsa verde.I'm trying to beat the frost.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Trying on his pants for church yesterday, we realized he doesn't fit them anymore. I haven't asked him his weight for a while (two months). He is weighed after every dialysis treatment and I assumed everything was balanced. This is not the case.

In order to keep his place on the transplant list, he needs to get down to the BMI that qualifies him. Too many sneaky PB&J sandwiches has not only increased his BMI, but made his pants smaller.

It's always been a problem trying to get him to stick with his strict fluid intake, but it's even harder trying to persuade him to keep off of foods that he really shouldn't be eating. In the few minutes that I head down the street a day, he obviously gets up to edible mischief. My family buying him McDonalds doesn't help either.

So I spent the morning, while he lay in slumber, planning out his meals and telling family members not to give him food behind my back. His only luxury take out will be pizza Tuesdays and his pizza will no longer be a meat lovers on double stuffed crust, but will be vegetarian on thin crust.

On to his eye.The right one bled this week. He's been taking Resveratrol for it and prescribed eye drops. The stuff is so expensive here and a few times we've held off buying. His eyes have bled both times we didn't get more when he ran out. It takes a few days to clear up, but it eventually does.

Dialysis tomorrow.The surgeon received a letter late last month requesting a new surgery from the Nephrologist. Now awaiting a surgery date.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

12/47 - Decorated Cake.I had other plans for this cake, but the week was too full and I decided on simple .. so simple, I bought the icing ready made.Turrets for Rome's castle cake made of ice-cream cones.Making pink icing.Graham cracker walls & easter egg crenelations.Happy Birthday couldn't fit.Done.She loved it.Someone drew a tiara on her forehead in felt pen.With friends.Carlos.My brother missed his daughters birthday. He was inking Saxon.Outlining done.1 of 4 tats.Very glad this week is over.